New York glittered beneath us.
And suddenly we were alone for the first time in months.
Luca approached slowly.
I noticed the exhaustion in his face now. The strain beneath the composure.
“You thought I was dead?” I asked.
“Yes.”
The single word carried terrifying weight.
I swallowed hard.
“For how long?”
“Until today.”
Six months.
Six months of grief.
No wonder he looked at me like he’d seen a ghost inside the boutique.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
Luca laughed once. Bitter.
“That’s the first time you’ve apologized since I met you.”
Despite myself, I almost smiled.
Then his expression darkened again.
“Why Brooklyn?”
I stiffened.
“You had me followed?”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“I smelled thrift-store detergent on your coat.”
I blinked.
Only Luca would identify my hiding location through laundry soap.
“That’s unsettling.”
“You married unsettling.”
The old familiar tension flickered briefly between us.
Dangerous. Intimate.
Then his eyes lowered to my stomach again.
Slowly. Carefully.
“Can I?” he asked quietly.
My breath caught.
He was asking permission.
Luca Moretti never asked permission.
After a long hesitation, I nodded.
His large hand rested gently against my stomach.
The baby kicked instantly.
Luca froze.
Completely froze.
I watched every wall inside him collapse at once.
A soft disbelieving sound escaped him.
Again the baby moved.
And Luca stared at me like the world had fundamentally changed.
“That’s my child,” he whispered.
Emotion tightened painfully inside my chest.
“Yes.”
His eyes lifted to mine.
I expected anger. Accusation. Control.
Instead I saw awe.
Pure overwhelming awe.
Then suddenly alarms exploded through the penthouse.
Red security lights flashed.
Luca’s head snapped toward the hallway instantly.
One of his guards burst through the doors.
“Boss!”
Luca moved in front of me automatically.
“What happened?”
The guard looked pale.
“There’s been a breach downstairs.”
Gunfire echoed faintly through the building.
My heart stopped.
Luca reached beneath his jacket immediately.
Another weapon. Always another weapon.
“How many?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Then the guard hesitated.
Fear crossed his face.
“They’re not asking for territory.”
Luca’s expression hardened.
“What are they asking for?”
The guard looked directly at me.
“They said they want the baby.”
Every light in the penthouse suddenly went dark.
May you like
And somewhere below us, someone screamed.
THE END OF PART 2 – LIKE, SHARE AND COMMENT “FULL STORY” IF YOU WANT TO READ FULL STORY.
